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On my GS300 I run a long tube IS300 header, Megan Racing straight mid pipe and a Tanabe catback exhaust. I like my exhaust set up as it has a nice deep tone with a bit of rumble. On the highway it has a nice low tone but around town it is louder but not one bit annoying. If you want that sporty sound then I would straight pipe it but do realize the exhaust fumes are a tab bit stronger than your normal oem exhaust is. Do you have a inline 6 or the v8?
Regardless of whether this is a GS300, 400, or 430, if you straight pipe the exhaust system it will not sound good. A few teenage boys might like it, but everyone else in the world will hate you. This isn't just about volume, but the quality of the sound as well.
It looks like you have a nice ride there. Please don't add to the variety of clapped out second gen GS's of the world. If you're going to mess with the exhaust start with quality aftermarket mufflers, then work your way towards the front if you still want more.
To answer your question directly: Yes, straight pipes are obnoxiously loud.
Regardless of whether this is a GS300, 400, or 430, if you straight pipe the exhaust system it will not sound good. A few teenage boys might like it, but everyone else in the world will hate you. This isn't just about volume, but the quality of the sound as well.
It looks like you have a nice ride there. Please don't add to the variety of clapped out second gen GS's of the world. If you're going to mess with the exhaust start with quality aftermarket mufflers, then work your way towards the front if you still want more.
To answer your question directly: Yes, straight pipes are obnoxiously loud.
Maybe have some Borla mufflers custom welded onto there? Take it to a muffler shop nearby and have them tell you what they think. Some of those shops will make a custom setup for you.
Also, replace your factory resonator with MBRP or Vibrant. Do both of the upgrades one at a time - seperately.
Hello all. Just bought my 03 GS300 last week. DO NOT STRAIGHT PIPE IT!
The previous owner straight piped the exhaust from the axle back and it sounds like being stuck in a resonating, droning boom tube. I am going out this weekend to have some mufflers welded in.
As someone else has said, these are not Civics. A Tanabe cat-back will give you all the sound you want with a quiet freeway ride.
Go ahead but for sound sake don't get rid of your resonators. They reduce the exhaust from sounding raspy and actually make the exhaust slightly deeper in tone.
Go ahead but for sound sake don't get rid of your resonators. They reduce the exhaust from sounding raspy and actually make the exhaust slightly deeper in tone.
There's more to it than that when it comes to resonators. they "resonate" your exhaust flow (basically speaking, a good type of air turbulence, or backpressure) meaning you will actually lose some performance if you remove them, along with the absolutely hideous sound.
I did not feel like paying $300+ for a GS300 header when the $80 IS300 header is identical. From what I remember reading this is for the 01 to 05 GS300 models as the 98-00 GS300 models are slightly different due to the mid pipe length on those years. If you were to put IS300 headers with a Megan Racing mid pipe it might fix that length issue for the 98-00 years.
The only thing is I had to modify the oem exhaust bracket that mounts on the bell housing on the transmission to the lower header part with the 3 bolts. Here is the IS300 header compared to the factory GS300 header and with it installed: